Editing Leopold and Loeb (section)

== Early lives ==
=== Nathan Leopold ===
Nathan Freudenthal Leopold Jr. was born on November 19, 1904, in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], the third son of Florence (née Foreman) and Nathan Leopold Sr., a wealthy German-Jewish immigrant family.<ref name="nl">{{cite report |year=1924 |title=Bowman-Hulbert Psychiatric Report: Nathan Leopold Jr.|access-date= }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MDR7qQbEnRoC&q=Florence+Foreman+Nathan+Leopold&pg=PA65|title=Leopold and Loeb: The Crime of the Century|first=Hal|last=Higdon|year=1975|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]|location=Champaign, Illinois|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0252068294|access-date=October 18, 2020|archive-date=August 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818072247/https://books.google.com/books?id=MDR7qQbEnRoC&q=Florence+Foreman+Nathan+Leopold&pg=PA65|url-status=live}}</ref> A [[child prodigy]], Leopold was recorded in his [[baby book]] as having spoken his first words at the age of four months and three weeks old.<ref name=nl /> Leopold began his college studies at the [[University of Chicago]], transferred to the [[University of Michigan]], but returned after a year to study at the University of Chicago.<ref>{{Cite news |title=DIFFERED IN COLLEGE LIFE.; Loeb Popular at Michigan -- Leopold Shunned Fellows. |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1924/06/02/104039092.html?pageNumber=3 |access-date=November 20, 2023}}</ref> At the time of the murder, he had completed an undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago with [[Phi Beta Kappa]] honors and planned to begin studies at [[Harvard Law School]] after a trip to Europe.<ref name="Linder">[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/leoploeb/Accountoftrial.html The Leopold and Loeb Trial:A Brief Account] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070315203922/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/leoploeb/Accountoftrial.html|date=March 15, 2007}} by Douglas O. Linder. 1997. Retrieved April 11, 2007.</ref>

By many accounts, Leopold was sensitive about his appearance.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nathan F. Leopold, Jr. (1904 - 1971) |url=https://famous-trials.com/leopoldandloeb/1668-leopold |access-date=January 29, 2023 |website=famous-trials.com |archive-date=January 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129203830/https://famous-trials.com/leopoldandloeb/1668-leopold |url-status=live }}</ref> He threw himself into intellectual pursuits where he met with remarkable success. Leopold had studied 15 languages and claimed to speak five fluently.<ref name="Freedom">{{cite web|first=Marilyn|last=Bardsley|url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/loeb/7c.html|title=Freedom|website=[[TruTV|Crime Library]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070401111735/http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/loeb/7c.html |archive-date=April 1, 2007|access-date=April 11, 2007}}</ref> He had achieved a measure of national recognition as an [[ornithology|ornithologist]].<ref name="Linder" /> Leopold and several other ornithologists identified nesting sites of [[Kirtland's warbler]]s and made astute observations about the parasitic nesting behavior of [[brown-headed cowbird]]s, which threatened the warblers.<ref>{{Cite book | last1 = Rapai | first1 = William| title = The Kirtland's warbler : the story of a bird's fight against extinction and the people who saved it | year = 2012 | publisher = [[University of Michigan Press]] | location = Ann Arbor, Michigan | isbn = 978-0472118038 | page =18 }}</ref> He maintained his interest in birds after his crime, raising birds in prison and working to help with the struggling Puerto Rican Parrot population after his release on parole.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Snyder |first=Noel |title=The Parrots of Luquillo: Natural History and Conservation of the Puerto Rican Parrot |publisher=United States Fish and Wildlife Service |year=1987 |bibcode=1987plnh.book...13S |language=English}}</ref>

=== Richard Loeb ===
Richard Albert Loeb was born on June 11, 1905, in Chicago, the third of four sons of Anna Henrietta (née Bohnen) and [[Albert Henry Loeb]], a wealthy lawyer and retired vice president of [[Sears, Roebuck & Company]].<ref name=rl>{{cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/people/richard-loeb-227821|title=Richard Loeb biography|work=[[The Biography Channel]]|year=2012|access-date=December 16, 2012|archive-date=January 2, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102233824/http://www.biography.com/people/richard-loeb-227821|url-status=live}}</ref> His father was Jewish and his mother was Catholic.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/loeb/5d.html |title=Leopold and Loeb |access-date=May 1, 2014|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140501235849/http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/famous/loeb/5d.html |archive-date=May 1, 2014 }}</ref> Like Leopold, Loeb was exceptionally intelligent. He was an avid reader, with a passion for history and crime stories. At age 12, he entered the innovative [[University of Chicago Laboratory Schools|University of Chicago High School]]. With the encouragement of his governess, he completed his high school education in two years. In 1923,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Richard Loeb: UM Alumni Card · Online Exhibits |url=https://apps.lib.umich.edu/online-exhibits/exhibits/show/lgbtheritage/item/1576 |access-date=November 20, 2023 |website=apps.lib.umich.edu |archive-date=November 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120062454/https://apps.lib.umich.edu/online-exhibits/exhibits/show/lgbtheritage/item/1576 |url-status=live }}</ref> at the age of 17,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Richard Loeb (1905 - 1936) |url=https://famous-trials.com/leopoldandloeb/1669-loeb |access-date=January 29, 2023 |website=famous-trials.com |archive-date=January 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129203838/https://famous-trials.com/leopoldandloeb/1669-loeb |url-status=live }}</ref> he would reportedly become the [[University of Michigan]]'s youngest graduate. Following graduation from Michigan, Loeb enrolled in a few history classes at the University of Chicago.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Linder |first1=Douglas |title=The Leopold And Loeb Trial: An Account |url=https://famous-trials.com/leopoldandloeb/1741-home |website=Famous Trials |access-date=March 4, 2022 |archive-date=March 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304222323/https://famous-trials.com/leopoldandloeb/1741-home |url-status=live }}</ref>